Abundance Of Wheat Drives Down Prices For Midwest Farmers

The world is growing a lot more wheat, and that’s having an effect on the prices farmers get for their crop in Kansas and other states in America’s wheat belt.

Bumper wheat crops in Canada, Russia and Australia will likely make this year’s haul the largest harvest on record. With all that wheat flooding the market, prices are declining.

“It’s hard not to pay attention when the price is dropping," says Darrell Hanavan, director of the Colorado Wheat Growers Association. He says farmers can expect prices to dip even further, barring a drought on the other side of the globe.

“We’ve had three record wheat crops in the world. Can we have a fourth? Or are the odds against that? We don’t know because the weather’s the greatest factor,” he says.

Hanavan says another factor pushing down prices is the lessened demand for wheat to feed cattle. Corn has lowered in price, and feedlot owners who switched to wheat during the drought can afford corn again.